Arrawyn of the Hill Country
Hailing from an isolated region of hills in western Gilneas, Arrawyn is a Worgen mercenary, proto-anarchist terrorist and brawler. Currently resident in Stormwind City, he has been involved in a number of major altercations fought in the name of 'wheeling' - a tradition in his home of violent brawls fought purely for entertainment, with little if any malice intended. Appearance Though a powerfully built six feet in height, Arrawyn's most distinguishing features are his hands and eyes. On his right hand, he lacks ring and little finger save for short stubs, and on the left, the same is true for his index finger, severed near the second joint. Likewise, a grotesque scar covers much of the left side of his face (inflicted by the same stroke that took the fingers of his right hand - the angle of the cut may still be seen to match), and his left eye, though present, is a shrivelled and weeping mockery of the right. Battle has not treated the Gilnean well, and while never handsome, he is now legitimately ugly. Typical Equipment Eschewing the usual heavy armour of the Company of the Bull, Arrawyn's battle gear consists of remarkably light armour, with the only pieces of plate consisting of an oversized steel bracer on his right forearm and a steel pauldron on the same side, overlayed on a toughened leather jerkin and mail shirt. This light armour is well-suited to the hit-and-run tactics of Arrawyn's upbringing, and the oversized bracer serves as a form of primitive buckler without interfering in the use of the claymore. While the battered and tarnished claymore carried with a baldric, wrapped in cloth, is the most eye-catching and fearsome weapon Arrawyn carries, it is not his preferred tool for killing. Instead, raised as a skirmisher, he prefers the use of the javelin and the long-knife, and on the field of battle is usually seen with three or four javelins. While rarely accorded respect in an increasingly gunpowder dominated world, the strength of a Worgen allows these javelins to resemble full spears in their size and scale - usually a solid and thick haft with a foot long leaf-blade - and hit with devastating force, particularly when used in conjunction with a simple sling launcher. Stories are told among participants in the Battle of the Span of a javelin thrown by the Gilnean piercing three men in chain before coming to a halt only in a horse, and while almost certainly exaggerated, they reflect the sheer force imparted on these massive projectiles. History Early Years Born to a poor farming family in the equally impoverished and agriculturally-dominated village of Roxford in the Gilnean Hill Country, Arrawyn's upbringing was dominated by three forces. First, hunger. Born as Gilneas retreated into itself, Arrawyn lived through a number of the devastating famines that swept the country shortly before, during, and after the Third War, and saw many of his friends and family reduced to gaunt, shambling skeletal figures by the spectre of shortage. Second, labour. From a young age, the Gilnean was set to purpose helping on the family's unproductive farm. At the age of five, he helped with the animals; at the age of ten, he helped in the fields. Such labour forged a strong body, and the birth of a 'philosophy' of sorts in the poorly educated farmer's thinking. Harvest time was always the easiest; everyone helped in exchange for a meal, on everyone else's farms. Why couldn't it be that way the rest of the year? Why ought the farm be so zealously shepherded as his family's property alone, when if everyone held a stake, everyone would help? Such an attitude was reinforced by the ramblings of reclusive hill hermits, exiled anarchists from the capital, and the resident Harvest Witch of Roxford, forging Arrawyn's crude anarcho-naturalist philosophies at the tender age of fifteen. Third, boredom. Between bouts of terrible hunger, the brief excitement of the Civil War, and the small festivals dotting the calendar, there was precious little to do in Roxford. The major exceptions were drinking and 'wheeling' - recreational violence - and Arryawn swiftly developed a powerful appetite for both. Fighting with neighbour boys and girls passed the time for much of his youth; as he grew, so too did his drinking and his participation in the larger brawls in town. Between the farm labour and this early exposure to and practice of violence, the young proto-anarchist developed into a capable and fearsome fighter. Strong and tall through some stroke of luck despite the famines, taught to fight in the fashion of the street brawler, Arrawyn emerged from his youthful days a popular (and somewhat feared) figure in his home town. Surname Peculiarly, Arrawyn professes not to have a last name, claiming his village doesn't bother with the custom and instead relies on traced lineage. He is, nonetheless, attested to in a census taken shortly after his birth - but only as 'Arrawyn Hill', with the bulk of his village receiving similar treatment. The Cataclysm of 623KY The Worgen Curse Infected in the waning days of the Curse's significance, Arrawyn was restored with relative ease compared to many who had been bitten at the beginning of the conflict. During skirmishes fought with Forsaken scouting parties intruding on the Hill Country, he (and many of his kin) proved that the dirty tactics of gouging, raking and biting that had been hard-learned wheeling proved frightfully effective with the new claws and fangs of the near-rabid Worgen when used with a mind that had practiced them for many years. The Exodus A Long, Hard Slog Poverty Free Company of Vintners The Company of the Bull Second Arathi Civil War Category:Gilnean Category:Characters Category:Mercenaries Category:Warriors Category:Worgen Category:Gilnean Anarchism